Gaming devices provide an opportunity for a user to play a variety of popular games on the machines, such as slot-type games, video adaptations of standard card games such as poker and blackjack, and many other types of games. Modern gaming devices are able to forward events that occur on the gaming devices over a computer network to a central system host or master controller. Examples of such events include coins or other value being entered into the machine, button selections and other actions made by the player, and an amount that the machine credits or pays out to the player as winnings. When the gaming machines are properly equipped, the central system can also control at least some portions of the gaming devices.
Another system that can be controlled by the central system, or a process coupled to the central system, is a bonus system for the gaming devices, and specifically a bonus system that is above and beyond the standard winning pay tables for the gaming devices.
Because there are times in a casino when gaming devices are not used as much as others, in an effort to make players more willing to play the games in slow times, it is desirable to be able to modify the effective payback of the gaming devices. Specifically, bonus systems are known that pay awards above and beyond what the gaming devices pay according to their own standard winning pay tables. Because the bonuses are added to the standard winnings from a gaming device, the players effectively have a higher chance of winning more money than when the additional bonuses are not paid. Therefore, more players are enticed to play at casinos having gaming devices coupled to a gaming network that generates the additional bonuses than at casinos that do not use such bonusing systems.
A typical way to administer paying an additional bonus is to accumulate a bonus pool each time one of the participating gaming devices is played. Once the minimum bonus pool level is reached, it is distributed—either to the gaming device machine that caused the minimum pool level to be reached, or to another active gaming device. U.S. Pat. No. 6,375,569B2, the teachings of which are specifically incorporated herein in their entirety, teaches such bonusing methods. However, because the bonus levels and overall time period in which bonuses can be paid is dependent on how many gaming devices are participating in the bonus pool, and dependent on the rate of usage of such devices, a casino can have difficulty in clearly explaining to its patrons the actual benefit conferred on them by participating in their bonusing system.
Embodiments of the invention address these and other deficiencies in the prior art.